Spotted Heart springs 23-1 upset in Maryland Juvenile Filly Championshp

It took Spotted Heart five starts to win her maiden but she now has back-to-back victories after rallying from far out in the track to upset the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship at Laurel Park on Friday.

Spotted Heart was competitive in her first four starts but never came within four lengths of winning. That changed on Nov. 20 when she came from just off the pace in a 14-horse field at Laurel to score by a neck.

She was disregarded at 23-1 in the seven-furlong Juvenile Filly Championship but worked her way out of tight quarters in upper stretch and then finished fast under jockey Sheldon Russell to take the lead from 5-2 second choice Everything Lovely in deep stretch and win going away by 1 1/4 lengths. Miss Bullistic was also moving well late and nailed Everything Lovely for second by a nose on the wire.

Spotted Heart paid $49.40 and was timed in 1:25.63. A daughter of Lion Hearted, she is trained by Mark Shuman and owned by Copper Penny Stables.

“I loved the way she was training, and we’ve always liked the filly,” Shuman said. “She was nervous in her first couple of starts but is growing out of that. I was confident she would run good today, but she kind of outdid herself.”

Mo Bagels and Pret Say Eye were vying for the early lead on the backstretch when Mo Bagels broke down and was pulled up, quickly dropping back through the heart of the field. Pret Say Eye inherited the lead but was soon joined by Everything Lovely from the outside. The early fractions were 23.02 and 46.45 seconds.

Everything Lovely drew clear nearing the stretch while covering six furlongs in 1:11.99, held a 2 1/2-length lead at the furlong pole but was outfinished in the final sixteenth.

Candida H., the 2-1 favorite, raced behind the early leaders, briefly challenged for the lead along the inside on the turn, dropped back a bit, and then continued well to finish fourth.

My Magician was forced to check on the backstretch as Mo Bagels was being pulled up.

Mo Bagels was vanned off the track. She was euthanized due to a compound fracture in her left front leg, according to track officials.